On Bosses

When many so-called anarchists think of bosses, they do so with disdain. They consider bosses the same way they consider rulers, ie. illegitimate and unnecessary. Are they? Do they exercise illegitimate authority over workers? And is their place in the business unnecessary? On authority, so long as the worker is not being coerced by the business to associate, then any orders given by the boss to the worker is equivalent to the worker demanding the boss give him direction in order for the worker to create the necessary value to remain employed by the business. On necessity, bosses don’t answer to their subordinates, rather, they are themselves workers who demand their own boss give them direction in order to create the necessary value to remain employed by the business. Every boss does likewise. Even the owner must make demands of consumers to show them how to create the necessary value to remain profitable. If you have a problem with bosses, perhaps you should withdraw your demands. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.

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Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.